Russian troops were on the move inside Ukrainian territory on Friday, prompting US President Barack Obama to warn Moscow that “there will be costs for any military intervention”.
It was unclear exactly what the Russian forces were doing but two airports in Crimea was taken over by armed men in combat fatigues, barricades shut off road links to the region, military helicopters were seen flying in across the border and armoured personnel carriers were on the roads. The Crimean peninsula’s main port, Sevastopol, where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is based, was also blocked off.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that armoured units were operating inside Ukraine, but insisted they were acting in accordance with an agreement with Kiev. Their mission was to protect its naval base, the ministry said in a statement.
However, Ukraine’s interim President Olexander Turchynov condemned the “naked aggression” against his country and accused Russia of a “military invasion and occupation”.
Ukraine “will defend its independence, and any attempts of annexation or invasion will have very grave consequences”, he said, as he made a personal appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops.
There were numerous reports of Russian forces arriving in Crimea.
Serhiy Astakhov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian border service, said eight Russian transport planes landed at the Gvardeiskoye airbase north of the regional capital Simferopol with unknown cargo. He said the people in the planes refused to identify themselves and waved away customs officials, saying they did not require their services. There were unconfirmed reports that nearly 2,000 troops had been flown in to the base.
Associated Press journalists in Crimea spotted a convoy of nine Russian armoured personnel carriers on a road between Sevastopol and Simferopol.
Crimea, already semi-autonomous, may not yet be ruled by the Kremlin as the majority of its population is aggressively demanding, but it was slipping away, almost hourly.
At a time ofescalated tensions with the West over Ukraine, Russia says it is negotiating with eight governments around the world for access to military facilities, to enable it to extend its long-range naval and strategic bomber capabilities.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday the military was engaged in talks with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Algeria, Cyprus, the Seychelles, Vietnam and Singapore.
“We need bases for refueling near the equator, and in other places,” ITAR-Tass quoted him as saying.
Russia is not looking to establish bases in those locations, but to reach agreement to use facilities there when required.
The countries are all strategically located – in three leftist-ruled countries close to the U.S.; towards either end of the Mediterranean; in the Indian Ocean south of the Gulf of Aden; and near some of the world’s most important shipping lanes in the Malacca Strait and South China Sea.
Access to the new locations would extend the Russian military’s potential reach well beyond its existing extraterritorial bases, at the Syrian port of Tartus and in former Soviet states – Ukraine’s Sevastopol, Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and the occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Shoigu said Russia was also beefing up its existing military presence in the post-Soviet region, doubling its troop numbers in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and deploying a regiment of troops to Belarus where it already has fighter aircraft stationed.
“Russia has started reviving its navy and strategic aviation since mid-2000s, seeing them as a tool to project the Russian image abroad and to protect its national interests around the globe,” the RIA Novosti state news agency commented.
“Now, Moscow needs to place such military assets in strategically important regions of the world to make them work effectively toward the goal of expanding Russia’s global influence.”
Russian defense spending has been climbing sharply in the years since its last military engagement – the invasion of Georgia in August 2008 – and early this year it was reported to have overtaken Britain to become the world’s third biggest spender, behind the U.S. and China.
According to the British consultancy HIS Jane’s, Russia’s defense expenditure has more than doubled since 2007, and will have tripled by 2016. [cns-donate]
The Islamist Basij militia force in Tehran ran a special military exercise Thursday and Friday preparing for an Iranian takeover of Jerusalem.
The exercise, entitled “March to Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem),” included training in the event of such a takeover, including drills for the protection of cities, assistance and rescue, dealing with social unrest, the protection of sensitive and important military centers, dealing with the invasion and landing of “enemy” (IDF) forces from helicopters, and carrying out complicated tactical maneuvers at night.
The exercise, entitled “March to Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem),” included training in the event of such a takeover, including drills for the protection of cities, assistance and rescue, dealing with social unrest, the protection of sensitive and important military centers, dealing with the invasion and landing of “enemy” (IDF) forces from helicopters, and carrying out complicated tactical maneuvers at night.
In an official statement, the militia said that the exercise is designed to develop and enhance the capabilities of the Al-Maqdis Brigades, improve Basij military competence, and foster a “self-sacrificing spirit” among the
terrorists.
Tens of thousands participated in the exercise and terrorists-in-training flocked to the program from dozens of Basij battalions.
Basij commander General Mohammad Reza Naqdi announced that the exercise was planned because the “boastful” (an expression used to indicate the US and Western powers) are at the end of their path to power and “the fighters and freedom-loving people” worldwide – Islamists – are angry and want to destroy the US and Israel to “restore” Jerusalem to an Islamic city.
Naqdi added that the terrorists “need to be prepared now, more than ever,” for the great “liberation battle” for Jerusalem, which would “avenge for the innocent blood spilled” by Western powers.
The General also claimed that Islamists worldwide are “waiting” for the call to battle from the Islamic Republic.
Last week, “moderate” Iranian president Hassan Rouhani called for the Palestinian Arab “liberation” of Jerusalem in light of ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
“One of the wishes of the Iranian nation is liberation of the Holy Quds,” the Iranian President was quoted as having said by the semi-official Fars news agency.
Rouhani also hoped that “the Palestinian nation and the entire Muslim world will find a serious solution to this occupation through unity and integrity.”
Basij commander General Mohammad Reza Naqdi announced that the exercise was planned because the “boastful” (an expression used to indicate the US and Western powers) are at the end of their path to power and “the fighters and freedom-loving people” worldwide – Islamists – are angry and want to destroy the US and Israel to “restore” Jerusalem to an Islamic city.
Naqdi added that the terrorists “need to be prepared now, more than ever,” for the great “liberation battle” for Jerusalem, which would “avenge for the innocent blood spilled” by Western powers.
The General also claimed that Islamists worldwide are “waiting” for the call to battle from the Islamic Republic.
Last week, “moderate” Iranian president Hassan Rouhani called for the Palestinian Arab “liberation” of Jerusalem in light of ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
“One of the wishes of the Iranian nation is liberation of the Holy Quds,” the Iranian President was quoted as having said by the semi-official Fars news agency.
Rouhani also hoped that “the Palestinian nation and the entire Muslim world will find a serious solution to this occupation through unity and integrity.”
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The news is coming in rapidly - updates will be added below:
Shocking Videos Of Russian Troops And Helicopters Moving Through Crimea
IT BEGINS: Russian Drill Flipped Live, Rapid Intervention Force Airlifted To Crimea
The Russian mode of operation was as predictable as a Swiss clock: Orchestrate pro-Russian rallies, send in spec-ops units disguised as local “pro-Russian elements” totake over airfields and strategic facilities, order your local proxy to “call for Russian help in restoring law and order”, then flip the massive military drill live and move into the country, defying Obama’s pathetic “warning”.
Below are some key excerpts from world media on the unfolding events.
From The Voice of Russia
Following an appeal by the Prime Minister of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, for assistance in securing peace and quiet in Crimea the Russian presidential administration said Russia would not disregard the request.
Earlier this Saturday, Sergei Aksyonov asked the Russian President to render assistance in ensuring peace and quiet in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Aksyonov also said he had subordinated all of the republic’s security agencies to himself.
Meanwhile, the cordoned-off area around the eastern and southern parts of the Crimean Council of Ministers building has been enlarged by one street block, so the closest one can now approach the building is 300 metres.
Police and Road Traffic Police prevent motor vehicles and pedestrians from entering the area, but allow street-cleaners to work there, and let everyone living in the nearby houses out.
The Simferopol streets are currently half-deserted, and almost no motor vehicles have been seen around.
The newly-chosen prime minister of the Ukrainian southern region of Crimea on Saturday called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to held restore “peace and calm” to the Black Sea peninsula, amid a standoff with the new authorities in Kiev.
“Taking into account my responsibility for the life and security of citizens, I ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to help in ensuring peace and calm on the territory of Crimea,” Sergiy Aksyonov said in an address quoted by local media and broadcast in full by Russian state television.
***
From Debka File:
Thirteen giant Ilyushin-76 (NATO codenamed IL-76 Candid) air transports flew into the Crimea Friday night, Feb. 28, and landed some 2,000 fresh Russian troops at a military airfield near Sebastopol.
debkafile’s military sources report the new intake were members of the Russian Rapid Intervention Force. They arrived as the UN Security Council in New York discussed the Kiev government’s protest against the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. Earlier, airline companies said Crimean airports had been closed to traffic following reports that armed Russian troops in uniform but without insignia had take control of the runways of Crimea’s two main airports at Simferopol and Sevastopol.
***
From The Interpreter:
“Under the guise of military exercises, Russia has brought troops into the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. And not only have they seized the parliament of the Crimea, the Council of Ministers of the Crimea, they are trying to take civilian buildings under control, communications, and trying to block places where Ukrainian soldiers are based,” he said in an appeal to the nation.
“They are provoking us to military conflict. According to information from our intelligence, they are working out scenarios that are completely analogous to Abkhazia, when after provoking a conflict, they began annexation of territory,” the acting president emphasized.
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Ukraine: Russia Sending 'Thousands' Of Troops To Crimea
Ukraine accused Russia on Saturday of sending thousands of extra troops into Crimea as the Kremlin vowed to help restore calm on the flashpoint peninsula and Washington warned of “costs” to Moscow should it use force.
Defence Minister Igor Tenyukh told the Ukrainian government’s first cabinet session that Russia’s armed forces had sent in 30 armored personnel carriers and 6,000 additional troops into Crimea in a bid to help local pro-Kremlin militia gain broader independence from the new pro-EU leaders in Kiev.
Tenyukh accused Russia of starting to send in these reinforcements on Friday “without warning or Ukraine’s permission.”
The defence chief spoke as dozens of pro-Russian armed men in full combat gear patrolled outside the seat of power in Crimea’s capital Simferopol, a day after similar gunmen seized control over airports and government buildings in the territory.
The rugged peninsula jutting into the Black Sea — host to a Kremlin fleet and with an ethnic Russian majority — has now effectively been cut off from mainland Ukraine, with airports shut down and a pro-Kremlin militia establishing a tightly-controlled checkpoint on the main road from the mainland.
BREAKING: U.S. Sixth Fleet Moves Toward Crimea, NATO Troops Land In Western Ukraine
Remember those US warships who were so eager to “protect the Sochi Olympics” ? According to Russian sources they have now been detected moving in the black sea towards Crimea (according to their motion vector). As Russia rapidly completes its takeover on the Crimean peninsula, those ships will be able to survey the situation and gather intelligence for the Pentagon. Simultaneously, NATO troops have arrived at the Lviv region in western Ukraine, possibly in expectation for a Russian backed military coup against the NATO installed puppet regime in Kiev. It remains to be seen to whom the Ukrainian army itself is loyal to – Russia or NATO (it is known, however, to be based on Russian military hardware and tactics). If it decides to declare an emergency situation and martial law in order to neutralize the new regime and sweep the Svoboda Nazi gangs out of the way, NATO could be facing a major strategic defeat, at least in eastern Ukraine. Either way, the prospects of WWIII have just increased by a considerable margin.
Ukraine: Putin Seeks Crimea Military Action
Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked parliament for permission to use the country's military in Ukraine in a marked escalation of the crisis.
The Kremlin has already been accused of sending 6,000 troops into Crimea despite calls by Britain and the US for Moscow to back off.
Tensions are rising amid reports that Russian and Ukranian troops are trying to gain control of key sites in the southeastern region of Ukraine.
The autonomous republic has a prime minister loyal to Moscow but the government in Kiev has vowed to maintain the country's territorial integrity.
Reports suggest that Russian troops are trying to occupy an anti-aircraft missile base and have taken control of airports in the peninsular.
Ukraine's border guard service said about 300 armed men were attempting to seize its main headquarters in the port city of Sevastopol.
Russian helicopter gunships have also been seen in Ukrainian airspace.
But there were claims by Russia that gunmen from Kiev had been sent overnight to seize the offices of Crimea's interior ministry.
There was grainy footage of an unidentified armed group breaking into a building, with smoke rising and reports that people had been "wounded".
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "As a result of the treacherous provocation, there are wounded.
"With decisive actions by self-defence groups, the attempt to seize the interior ministry building was averted.
"This confirms the desire of prominent political circles in Kiev to destabilise the peninsula."
Putin Asks Russian Parliament For Approval To Use Force In Ukraine: Update: Given Approval
Putin Dismisses Obama's Warning Over Ukraine Incursion
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